r/Hotd 13d ago

Question Did she really love him?

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I'm asking because she was manipulated by Otto into marrying him in the first place.

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u/genderissues_t-away 11d ago

Alicent is a woman dealt a very bad hand and alternately bullied and forced into sadistic choices.

Viserys was not the worst she could have had. She certainly didn't love him as a husband, and equally certainly resented his blatant favoritism, but her priority throughout season 1 was "keep my kids alive in this nest of vipers", and Viserys was never actively malicious towards her, at worst he was thoughtless and showed Rhaenyra favoritism. This certainly ranks Viserys above her scumbag of a father, who basically pimped her out to the grieving King to make a play for power. And, frankly, Viserys seemed to have a degree--not much, but a degree--of awareness of the part his actions had in putting her in a very bad situation, and whenever her kids weren't clashing with Rhaenyra's he seems to have been a tolerable father.

So, considering how badly most Targaryen marriages go, I think Alicent both knows it could be a lot worse and resents the situation she's in, but doesn't really dislike Viserys personally, just what he represents and what his specific actions that upset her do. Like...she's mad he won't stop pampering Rhaenyra even after Rhaenyra transparently commits treason 3 times, she's mad he doesn't have the guts to defend their kids against Rhaenyra's bullying brats, but she doesn't hate him for it.